John Miller
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John Miller (1813 - 1873)

John Miller
Born in Sugar Loaf, Ontario, Canadamap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of [half]
Husband of — married 29 Oct 1843 in Port Huron, St Clair, Michiganmap
Descendants descendants
Father of
Died at age 60 in Port Huron, St Clair, Michiganmap
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Profile last modified | Created 14 Mar 2016
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Biography

John Miller was born on July 1, 1813, in Sugar Loaf, Ontario to John Miller (1783-1860) and Anna Reist (1790-1868) who were Mennonites from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. [1]During 1786-1802, many Quakers moved to the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario from south-eastern Lancaster County and Eastern Bucks County in Pennsylvania. Mennonites and others followed. Mennonites from Center Valley moved to Canada after the Revolutionary War starting in 1788. They came to America in the early 1700's. Sugar Loaf was probably in Humberstone Township or Wainfleet Township in Welland County (part of Lincoln County until 1851), Niagara District. Today it would be near Port Colborne, Ontario. It was 20 miles above the mouth of Lake Erie and very chilly and swampy. The first mills were started there because the lumber could be moved along the Lake Erie waterway. The name Sugar Loaf comes from a prominent sand ridge running along the lake.

The Mennonites, like the Quakers, did not believe in killing even in a war. So during the War of 1812, John Millers family ran to Ontario, Canada to escape being drafted by the Americans. Later in Canada, they had to escape back to America to avoid being drafted by the British. That is why John Miller was born in Canada. [2]

His siblings were:

  1. Emeline Miller
  2. Ester Miller
  3. Frederick Miller
  4. Andrew Miller
  5. Jacob Miller (1808-1870)
  6. Henry Miller (1817-)
  7. Maria Anna Miller Lockwood (1828-1907)

John Miller married Flora Hull on October 29, 1843, in Port Huron, St Clair, Michigan. They had two children. They were:

  1. Clara Anna Miller (1846-1863)
  2. John Edgar Miller (1847-1925) [3]

They also had Lizzie A Miller Hughes (1863-) who was adopted after the death of Clara Anna in 1863. She was born to an unwed mother who is unknown as is her father. [4]

He was elected Village president of Port Huron, Michigan in 1856 according to The Political Graveyard Index website. He was also elected mayor of Port Huron in 1860 and 1871-1872 according to the same site. [5] He was a very successful banker along with his son, John Edgar.

From American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-Made Men with Portrait Illustrations on Steel, Volumes I-II: Name: Hon. John Miller of Port Huron, son of John and Anna (Riest) Miller, was born on the 1st of February, 1818, at Sugar Loaf, in Upper Canada. His parents were of German descent, and were natives of Pennsylvania. They spoke English and German equally well. They removed to Buffalo, New York, and then to Canada, where their son John was born. When he was quite young, they removed to Rochester, Oakland County, Michigan. Mrs. Miller was a Mennonite, of which sect her brother, John Reist, now residing in Buffalo, was a missionary and leader. She died in February, 1868. Her husband died some years before. The school privileges of John Miller were very limited, ending when he was thirteen years old. He was well endowed intellectually, and had a reflective as well as an inquiring mind. He spent his leisure in reading, thus making up for his lack of educational advantages. He became well informed in matters pertaining to business and politics; and, as a business man, had more than ordinary ability. At the age of thirteen, he went to St. Clair County, and worked with his oldest brother, Jacob Miller, in the lumber business. Soon after, he was employed by the Black River Steam-mill Company, as clerk in the business pertaining to their mill, in Port Huron. He remained many years, filling the several positions of clerk, general manager, and superintendent; after which he undertook a business of his own of the same character. In all his enterprises, he was more than ordinarily successful, accumulating property easily and rapidly. His investments were made with excellent judgment, and his plans were executed with energy and ability. His general information and good judgment so recommended him to the people that he was chosen to represent them in the Legislature, and was three times elected Mayor of the city; serving each term with honor to himself and satisfaction to his fellow-citizens. October 29, 1843, Mr. Miller was married to Miss Flora Hull, of Middlesex County, Connecticut. She had been educated at Bissell's Academy, then a flourishing school on the Western Reserve, in Ohio. Though of retiring and unobtrusive manners, she possessed much energy and ambition. Mr. Miller did not fail to recognize and acknowledge her influence. He is remembered to have said, that whatever of success he had attained was due to his wife. They had two children,--a son and a daughter. The oldest, Clara Miller, died in 1863, at the age of seventeen years. The son, John Edgar, succeeded his father as Cashier and manager of the First National Bank. Within the last year, however, realizing that his health required, for a time, freedom from the absorbing care and confinement, he retired from the business. Mrs. Miller now occupies the family mansion, which her husband erected a few years before his death, in the fall of 1873. Mr. Miller was a constant attendant, a trustee, and a generous supporter of the Congregational Church, but was very liberal in his religious views. In politics, he was a Democrat, but was quite conservative He was not extreme in any of his opinions. He was a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and was a Knight Templar. Mr. Miller must be regarded as having had a successful life; which, when his opportunities are considered, affords a worthy example to future generations. [6]

He died on September 16, 1873, in Port Huron, Michigan [7], at the age of 60 of stomach cancer. [8] His burial is unknown, but I'm going to guess he was buried at Lakeside Cemetery where his wife and daughter were buried in Port Huron or an earlier cemetery which doesn't exist today.

His brief obituary in the Detroit Free Press reads: John Miller, one of the pioneers from Port Huron, died at his residence in that city on Saturday last in the sixty-first year of his age. Mr Miller settled in Port Huron in 1832, and resided in that city until the day of his death. For a number of years previous to his death he was one of the most prominent business men of the city. In politics he was a Democrat. He was once President of the Village of Port Huron, was three times elected Mayor, and served two terms in the State Legislature. Mr Miller was highly respected and esteemed, and his death will occasion unfeigned regret. [9]

References

  1. ↑ Biographical memoirs of St. Clair County, Michigan to which is appended a comprehensive compendium of national biography; memoirs of eminent men and women in the United States, Logansport, Ind.: B.F. Bowen, 1903,http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/BAD1041.0001.001/471?rgn=full+text;view=image;q1=john+miller, pgs 449-451
  2. ↑ Biographical memoirs of St. Clair County, Michigan to which is appended a comprehensive compendium of national biography; memoirs of eminent men and women in the United States, Logansport, Ind.: B.F. Bowen, 1903,http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/BAD1041.0001.001/471?rgn=full+text;view=image;q1=john+miller, pgs 449-451
  3. ↑ Biographical memoirs of St. Clair County, Michigan to which is appended a comprehensive compendium of national biography; memoirs of eminent men and women in the United States, Logansport, Ind.: B.F. Bowen, 1903,http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/BAD1041.0001.001/471?rgn=full+text;view=image;q1=john+miller, pgs 449-451
  4. ↑ "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHC6-RXR : 17 October 2014), John Miller, Michigan, United States; citing p. 13, family 98, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,198.
  5. ↑ The Political Graveyard Index, http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/miller5.html#558.08.79
  6. ↑ American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-Made Men of the State of Michigan, https://books.google.com/books?id=HzNSj-K2FsEC&pg=PA304&dq=john+edgar+miller+port+huron+mi&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjyrNyyypPPAhVJbiYKHT_jBMIQ6AEITDAJ#v=onepage&q=john%20edgar%20miller%20port%20huron%20mi&f=false, Google Books, pg 16
  7. ↑ "Michigan Deaths, 1867-1897," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N36K-6QC : 12 December 2014), John Miller, 16 Sep 1873; citing p 99 rn 548, Port Huron, St Clair, Michigan, Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL microfilm 2,363,452.
  8. ↑ Ancestry.com. Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60872&h=135298&ssrc=pt&tid=7488140&pid=-909449719&usePUB=true, Death Records. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan.
  9. ↑ Newspapers.com - Detroit Free Press - 19 Sep 1873, Fri - Page 5, https://www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=6769596, John Miller Obituary

Sources

  • "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHC6-RXR : 17 October 2014), John Miller, Michigan, United States; citing p. 13, family 98, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,198.
  • Ancestry.com. History of St. Clair County, Michigan : containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, an extensiv [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005,http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=17656&h=296&ssrc=pt&tid=7488140&pid=-909449719&usePUB=true, Original data: History of St. Clair County, Michigan : containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, an extensive sketch of its cities, towns and villages, their improvements, industries, manufactories, churches, schools and societies, its war record, biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan, and statistics of the state.. Chicago: A.T. Andreas & Co., 1883.
  • "Michigan Deaths, 1867-1897," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N36K-6QC : 12 December 2014), John Miller, 16 Sep 1873; citing p 99 rn 548, Port Huron, St Clair, Michigan, Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL microfilm 2,363,452.
  • "Michigan Deaths and Burials, 1800-1995," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHPC-F9G : 9 December 2014), John Miller, 16 Sep 1873; citing Port Huron, St Clair, Michigan, reference v 1 p 97; FHL microfilm 976,874.




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Images: 3
John Miller
John Miller
The Compendium of American Genealogy, Vol. I
The Compendium of American Genealogy, Vol. I
John Miller, Mayor of Port Huron
John Miller, Mayor of Port Huron


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Rejected matches › John A. D. Miller (1812-1875) › John Miller (abt.1814-) › Johannes Mohler (1802-1860) › Johannes Müller (bef.1812-1879) › Johannes Rudolphus Mulder (abt.1815-)

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